WASHINGTON â€” The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively.

Coupled with a statement from the top American military officer last week linking Pakistanâ€™s military spy agency to the recent murder of a Pakistani journalist, the halting or withdrawal of military equipment and other aid to Pakistan illustrates the depth of the debate inside the Obama administration over how to change the behavior of one of its key counterterrorism partners.

Altogether, about $800 million in military aid and equipment, or over one-third of the more than $2 billion in annual American security assistance to Pakistan, could be affected, three senior United States officials said.

This aid includes about $300 million to reimburse Pakistan for some of the costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border to combat terrorism, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in training assistance and military hardware, according to half a dozen Congressional, Pentagon and other administration officials who were granted anonymity to discuss the politically delicate matter.

Some of the curtailed aid is equipment that the United States wants to send but Pakistan now refuses to accept, like rifles, body armor and night-vision goggles that were withdrawn or held up after Pakistan ordered more than 100 trainers in the United States Special Forces to leave the country in recent weeks.

Some is equipment that cannot be set up, certified or used for training because Pakistan has denied visas to the American personnel needed to operate the equipment, including some surveillance gear, a senior Pentagon official said.

And some is assistance like the reimbursements for troop costs, which is being reviewed in light of questions about Pakistanâ€™s commitment to carry out counterterrorism operations. For example, the United States recently provided Pakistan with information about suspected bomb-making factories, only to have the insurgents vanish before Pakistani security forces arrived a few days later.

â€œWhen it comes to our military aid,â€ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a Senate committee last month â€œwe are not prepared to continue providing that at the pace we were providing it unless and until we see certain steps taken.â€

American officials say they would probably resume equipment deliveries and aid if relations improve and Pakistan pursues terrorists more aggressively. The cutoffs do not affect any immediate deliveries of military sales to Pakistan, like F-16 fighter jets, or nonmilitary aid, the officials said.

Pakistanâ€™s precise military budget is not known, and while the American aid cutoff would probably have a small impact on the overall military budget, it would most directly affect the counterinsurgency campaign. The Pakistani Army spends nearly one-quarter of the nationâ€™s annual expenditures, according to K. Alan Kronstadt of the Congressional Research Service.

While some senior administration officials have concluded that Pakistan will never be the kind of partner the administration hoped for when President Obama entered office, others emphasize that the United States cannot risk a full break in relations or a complete cutoff of aid akin to what happened in the 1990s, when Pakistan was caught developing nuclear weapons.

But many of the recent aid curtailments are clearly intended to force the Pakistani military to make a difficult choice between backing the country that finances much of its operations and equipment, or continuing to provide secret support for the Taliban and other militants fighting American soldiers in Afghanistan.

â€œWe have to continue to emphasize with the Pakistanis that in the end itâ€™s in their interest to be able to go after these targets as well,â€ Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told reporters on Friday en route to Afghanistan.

Some American officials say Pakistan has only itself to blame, citing the Pakistani militaryâ€™s decision to distance itself from American assistance in response to the humiliation suffered from the American commando raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that killed Osama bin Laden, as well as rising anger from midlevel Pakistani officers and the Pakistani public that senior military leaders, including Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the powerful army chief of staff, are too accommodating to the Americans.

Pakistan shut down the American program to help train Pakistani paramilitary troops fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the lawless border regions near Afghanistan, prompting the Americans to take with them equipment Pakistani troops used. The Central Intelligence Agency has been relying more heavily on flying armed drones from Afghanistan since Pakistan threatened to close down a base the C.I.A. was using inside the country.

But in private briefings to senior Congressional staff members last month, Pentagon officials made clear that they were taking a tougher line toward Pakistan and reassessing whether it could still be an effective partner in fighting terrorists.

â€œThey wanted to tell us, â€˜Guys, weâ€™re delivering the message that this is not business as usual and weâ€™ve got this under control,â€™ â€ one senior Senate aide said.

Comments last week by Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also reflected a potentially more confrontational approach to Pakistan. Admiral Mullen, who is retiring in two months, became the first American official to publicly accuse Pakistan of ordering the kidnapping, torture and death of the journalist, Saleem Shahzad, whose mutilated body was found in early June.

Besides the growing tensions, the slowdown in aid can also be attributed to tightening military budgets as lawmakers seek deeper cuts in Pentagon spending to help address the mounting government debt.

There is growing opposition on Capitol Hill to sending security assistance to Pakistan. Last week, the Republican-controlled House approved a Pentagon budget bill that limits the Defense Department from spending more than 25 percent of its projected $1.1 billion budget for training and equipping Pakistani troops next year, unless the secretaries of defense and state submit a report to Congress showing how the money will be spent to combat insurgencies.

The Pakistani military is the most important institution in the country. But it has been under intense domestic and international pressure because of the humiliation of the Bin Laden raid, an attack on Pakistanâ€™s main navy base in Karachi weeks later, and continuing fallout from the arrest and subsequent release of a C.I.A. security contractor, Raymond A. Davis, who shot and killed two Pakistanis in January in what he said was a robbery.

The United States has long debated how hard it can push Pakistan to attack militant strongholds in the tribal area. Washington, however, depends on Pakistan as a major supply route into Afghanistan. American officials also want to monitor as closely as they can Pakistanâ€™s burgeoning nuclear weapons arsenal.

The decision to hold back much of the American military aid has not been made public by the Pakistani military or the civilian government. But it is well known at the top levels of the military, and a senior Pakistani official described it as an effort by the Americans to gain â€œleverage.â€

A former Pakistani diplomat, Maleeha Lodhi, who served twice as ambassador to the United States, said the Pentagon action was short-sighted, and was likely to produce greater distance between the two countries.

â€œIt will be repeating a historic blunder and hurting itself in the bargain by using a blunt instrument of policy at a time when it needs Pakistanâ€™s help to defeat Al Qaeda and make an honorable retreat from Afghanistan,â€ Ms. Lodhi said of the United States.

Washington imposed sanctions on Pakistan in the 1990s, and in the process lost influence with the Pakistani military, Ms. Lodhi said. Similarly, the Obama administration would find itself out in the cold with the Pakistani Army if it held up funds, she said.

Within the Pakistani Army, the hold on American assistance would be viewed as â€œan unfriendly act and total disregard of the sacrifices made by the army,â€ said Brig. Javed Hussain, a retired special forces officer.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration will hold back about $800 million in aid to the Pakistani military because Washington is unhappy with Pakistan's expulsion of US military trainers and its campaign against militants, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

The Times, citing three US senior officials, said the United States was suspending or canceling $800 million in aid and equipment -- more than a third of the $2 billion it gives Pakistan for security assistance.

The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, cancelling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively. Coupled with a statement from the top American military officer last week linking Pakistan's military spy agency to the recent murder of a Pakistani journalist, the halting or withdrawal of military equipment and other aid to Pakistan illustrates the depth of the debate inside the Obama administration over how to change the behaviour of one of its key counterterrorism partners. Altogether, about $800 million in military aid and equipment, or over one-third of the more than $2 billion in annual American security assistance to Pakistan.

This is a regular dance between US and Pakistan. In a few days or weeks Pakistan will capture or kill a some AQ terrorist and everything would be back to normal, US and Pakistan would go back to being 'trusted allies'.

Thats great news!! I wonder if the lives of the people who helped us find Bin Laden are in on that deal. You know the good folks that helped us on the Pakistan, side of the border. I would not give them one thin dime until they hand over those people. There is no doubt in my mind that the Government of Pakistan knew exactly where Bin Laden was all of this time.Bring that money back home we need it here.

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Where is Your GOD, Now?

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Give those $$$$ to India to hasten the day, they wipe those cockroache*s off the map.

Those F16's are an older model, stripped down quite a bit, have stipulatio*ns and software code adjustment*s that don't allow them to fly it outside their airspace - cannot be used to attack india. And are on base(private) where it is montiored 24/7 by the US- with US personel on the grounds to make sure they won't allow chinese access to it...
It would be an embarassment for any other govt to accept such terms but Pakistani people and govt-- not know to have any self respect.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's increasingly "close and effective defense ties" established with China during the past decade will allow Islamabad to "fill the gap" arising from the prospect of reduced military aid from the United States, a senior Pakistani official said on Sunday after reports emerged of cuts of up to $800 million in U.S. aid.

While welcoming the suspension of aid to Pakistan's military i however would like to see the money still go to Pakistan as proper directly funded american programs for building hospitals schools(not madrasas) etc, maybe under the aegis of one of the liberal Pakistani leaders organisations(read Shabaz bhatti and his ilk). Pakistan's islamization can only be controlled once the money that flows into the villages form the Wahhabist's in Saudi Arabia and the larger middle east is supplanted by liberal cash being brought in by american donations via reformist/secular organisations in Pakistan.Another thing that could be done is funnel this money to the sindhi hindus/pakistani Christians who have long been at the mercy of the state when it comes to bettering their ilk.

â€œWith reference to the special circumstances between India and Pakistan and how India has consistently taken the view that it is not desirable that this region had to be heavily armed by the U.S. which will upset the equilibrium in the region itself. To that extent India welcomes this step,â€ External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters here.